


Be Broken or be Brave

by epicdrqco (orphan_account)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abused Sirius Black, Abusive Parents, Child Abuse, Gen, James Potter - Freeform, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Mild Hurt/Comfort, Orion Black - Freeform, Regulus Black - Freeform, Sibling Love, Walburga Black - Freeform, sirius black - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 15:04:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20194231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/epicdrqco
Summary: Sirius comes home one night to find his father in a fit of rage.





	Be Broken or be Brave

Sirius stood in front of the front door, not wanting to go inside to the constant fighting. As soon as he stepped foot in the house, he would be dragged into an argument that would suddenly turn on him. Sirius felt unwanted by his parents, which was the only thing they ever agreed on. He felt bad for his little brother, Regulus, though they didn’t spend much time together. Regulus was like a safe spot, someone Sirius knew he could be real with, and not get hurt doing it.

He took a deep breath and opened the door. Immediately, the sound of yelling and objects being thrown filled his ears. He tried running up the stairs, thinking that maybe he wouldn’t be seen. He was wrong; his father yanked him by his shirt collar, choking him. He fumbled with the fabric, trying to free himself, trying to breath. He was thrown against a wall and his father’s hand wrapped around his throat. 

He pressed his hand down, blocking Sirius’ airway further. His father refused to let him catch a breath of air, and it seemed as his mother didn’t mind this at all. The room started to spin and Sirius could feel himself turning blue. His father released his hand and Sirius sunk to the floor, gulping air as fast as he could. 

The room was quiet, except for some sniffling in a corner. Sirius turned his head and saw his brother, Regulus, curled up against the wall, clutching his stomach. Tears were streaming down his face and he was shaking all over. 

“Get up! Both of you!” Sirius’ father yelled at them, using one hand for each of them to pull the up. Sirius looked at Regulus again. His shirt had a large path of red on it and his hands were stained with blood. It was obvious that he had been hurt by his father, and very recently. Sirius felt tears leaking out of his eyes and couldn’t help but let them. 

“What did you do to him?” Sirius sobbed, pulling his brother towards him. To his surprise, Regulus held onto Sirius, crying into his shoulder.

“I did what I had to!” Sirius’ father grabbed Regulus and threw him on the ground. He took a handful of Sirius’ hair and pinned him against the wall. “I heard you got into a little trouble at school,”

Sirius nodded and tried to shove his father off of him, but failed. He was hit across the face by and saw his father pick up a long stick that was lying a few feet away. 

“You’re going to get yourself kicked out of Hogwarts! Do you know how much we’ve spent for you and your brother to get all the things you need for that hell hole?” Sirius was sobbing uncontrollably by now. His lungs hurt from the mixture of his rapid breathing and being treated like an animal. 

“I-I’m s-s-sorry,” Sirius knew that his father would turn to Regulus and hit him again, but he wasn’t going to let that happen. “D-Don’t hurt him, p-please!” 

Sirius immediately regretted dragging Regulus into this. His father turned around and hit Regulus, again and again, until he couldn’t scream for help anymore. When he was satisfied, he turned to Sirius and said, “Don’t ever tell me what to do. Now get out of here!”

Sirius grabbed Regulus and rushed upstairs. Regulus was about to turn to go to his room, but Sirius stopped him. “Stay with me, yeah?” Regulus wiped a tear from his cheek and nodded. 

When they got into Sirius’ room, Sirius locked the door, something he almost never did. Regulus stood in the corner of the room, trying to get rid of the blood that was trickling down his stomach. 

“Here, let me help,” Sirius got a towel and helped him clean off some of the blood. He snuck out of the room to get some water and bandages from the bathroom. He used the water to get the dried blood off and applied the bandages to the small cuts all along his brother stomach and chest. 

“Thank you,” Regulus hugged Sirius for a long time before Sirius suggested they get some sleep. 

Sirius laid down next to Regulus in Sirius’ bed. Sirius could tell Regulus was falling asleep, but he couldn’t help but stay wide awake. 

An hour or so must have passed with Regulus sleeping next to Sirius, and Sirius staring at the ceiling. All of a sudden there was a bang and he heard someone walking up the stairs.

“I’ll teach that damn boy a lesson! He’ll be lucky if he can walk after this!” Sirius heard the faint yell of his father. He would be coming into Sirius’ room and Sirius knew that Regulus had to leave.

“Regulus! Wake up!” Sirius shook his brother awake. Regulus heard their father and knew why Sirius had woken him up. Sirius opened the window in his bedroom and looked down. The jump wouldn’t be too bad, but he could still get hurt. Sirius turned to his twelve year old brother and said, “Regulus, I want you to listen to me very closely,” Regulus nodded. “Jump out the window and go to Evan’s house, okay? I’ll be right behind you.”

The doorknob of Sirius’ door started rattling; his father was going to come in any second. Both Sirius and Regulus looked at the door, frozen in fear. With another rattle, the door flew open and his father stormed into the room carrying a wooden stick. 

“Come here, you useless piece of shit!” His father reached for Regulus’ hair but Sirius stopped him.

“Go, Regulus! Now!” Sirius shouted, immediately feeling a sting on his chest from his father’s cane. Regulus jumped out the window and landed on the grass. He got up and looked at the window, feeling a heavy weight of guilt for leaving his brother. He looked into the night and ran, ran until he couldn’t run anymore.

Inside, Sirius’ father dragged him downstairs and proceeded to beat him. He hit him until he was bleeding everywhere. After what felt like forever, he put the cane down and yanked Sirius’ hair to pull him up. He walked him to the door, opened it, and pushed him outside. Before the door was closed, he could hear the laughter of his mother and father, which made him sick to his stomach.

He knew he couldn’t find Regulus now, it had been too long and Sirius had no idea where Evan Rosier lived. He did, however, know where his best friend, James Potter lived. He decided that it would be best to go to his house instead of stay out here all night or try to find Regulus. He would look for him in the morning, surely James knew where Evan lived.

Sirius walked to James’ house, wincing in pain when he almost tripped over rocks or sticks. It couldn’t have been any longer than an hour that he walked in the shadows, avoiding any sign of people, but it felt like a lifetime. By now, he was sobbing uncontrollably. He saw the beautiful sight of James Potter’s house and smiled. 

He knocked on the door, hoping that James’ mom or dad would answer so James needn’t see him in this state. But James did answer the door, and Sirius fell into his arms. He was hyperventilating and trying to explain what had happened when Mr. and Mrs. Potter came to the door. They took one look at Sirius and took him to St. Mungo’s right away. 

At St. Mungo’s, Healers cleaned him up and gave him a few stitches along his arm. He didn’t get checked into a room, but a Healer gave him some medications to take for a few days. On the way back to the Potter’s house, Sirius told them about Regulus staying at Evan Rosier’s house. 

They sent an owl to Evan’s parents, saying that he could stay with them if he wanted, but got a response back shortly that informed them that Regulus was doing fine and that he would prefer to stay at his friend’s house. 

Regulus came to visit pretty often, and Sirius even went to see him a few times that summer.

From that point forward, Sirius was considered a part of the Potter family. He would never have to go see his awful, abusive parents again. He was glad that he had somewhere to call home, that also felt like home.

**Author's Note:**

> This one hurt to write so much! I hated portraying Sirius’ father like this since we never knew much about him, but I know that Sirius never felt loved at home, so I liked to imagine this is what being home felt like for him. I also loved see the loving brotherly relationship between Sirius and Regulus, which was probably my favorite part to write! I hope you enjoyed it and feel free to leave a comment and/or Kudos!


End file.
